Illegal carpooling chat groups on Telegram grow in popularity

Passengers risk safety for unregulated rides; LTA tracking situation and will take action

- Nadine Chua

On a Friday night, a trip from Bedok to Orchard Road cost 32 on ride-hailing apps such as Grab and Gojek, while the same trip cost 16 on an illegal carpooling chat group on Telegram.

To save on the trip, a 26-year-old teacher, who wanted to be known only as Ms Gen, opted for the carpooling service from SG Hitch to get from her home to Wisma Atria. Her ride in November 2022 put her off such illegal services for good.

“The driver drove dangerously. He was tailgating and speeding the entire time. He later admitted that he rarely drives,” Ms Gen told The Straits Times last week.

“I was really afraid when I was in his car, but because Telehitch is unregulated, there was no way for me to report him,” she said.

Chat groups on Telegram, such as SG Hitch, that connect drivers and passengers have grown in popularity over the years.

These chat groups, known as Telehitch groups, started appearing around 2019 and are illegal and unregulated.

In Singapore, drivers offering private-hire ride services need to get a Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence PDVL), but this is not required on Telehitch groups.

SG Hitch, the largest carpooling chat group here, currently has more than 199,000 members, up from about 56,000 members in April 2020.

A check by ST found that there are at least five such chat groups on Telegram, with the smallest having more than18,000 members. One of these is a group for only female drivers and passengers, and it has more than 32,000 members.

The administrators of the chat groups did not respond to requests for comments.